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The Danville Planning Commission is set to consider approving development plans and other application material for a proposed senior housing project in the north of town near the intersection of El Cerro Boulevard and El Pintado Road on Tuesday night.
The proposed project would replace the existing office space on the three acre site at 425 El Pintado Road with 99 senior housing units, with the applicants seeking approval of the project under the 2019 Housing Crisis Act (HCA) as well as the waiver of a number of development standards including height, retaining wall height and setbacks, and floor-area ratio under the state density bonus law.
The site, owned by Robert and Lisa Curtice and Russell Darby, was identified as a housing opportunity site under Danville’s current Housing Element which was adopted last year, with the town required to find potentially suitable areas for the development of 2,241 new homes required under the current Regional Housing Needs Allocation process by the Association of Bay Area Governments.
Under the HCA, which was revised in 2021, local municipalities are prevented from denying housing project applications based on “subjective design standards.” Under the density bonus law, developers are allowed to increase project count beyond what is allowed in local general plans when those projects include affordable housing or age-restricted units.Â
While the project on the table for the Planning Commission’s consideration Tuesday does not seek to exceed existing density requirements under the town’s General Plan, the applicant – 425 EP Investments LLC – is seeking waivers under the density bonus law, which limits the reasons the town could deny those waivers to significant health and safety concerns and adverse impacts “for which there is no feasible method to satisfactorily mitigate or avoid the specific, adverse impact,” according to a staff report prepared by town chief of planning David Crompton.Â
“In addition, courts have ruled that features such as increased ceiling heights and other ‘amenities’ such as courtyards, open areas, etc. can be the basis for the waiver,” Crompton wrote.
The applicant is seeking four waivers total at the upcoming Planning Commission meeting – for building height, floor-area ratio, drive aisle width, and retaining wall height and setback, as well as a tree removal request along with approval of the development plan request and vesting tentative map for the project.Â
The Danville Planning Commission is set to meet at 5 p.m. on Tuesday (Nov. 12). The agenda is available here.
